Creating custom templates for ckeditor in Drupal 7
Using the ckeditor templates plugin to pre-define HTML markup for use by content editors.
Apr 07
Rendering HTML into PDF using WKHTMLTOPDF
A journey through converting web content into a Portable Document Format file
Mar 30
Our Development Workflow and Tools
At Industrial, we're strong proponents of Agile Project Management. However, Agile is something we take to heart across all of our internal processes…
Jan 12
Centralized Authentication with BCrypt
It's getting close to that time of year when we take time to go home and visit family and loved ones at the end of another year. And, when you're a "…
Dec 18
Database design in modern applications
Leveraging the power of UUIDs to ensure interoperability with external applications or micro-services and how it relates to database design.
Dec 10
Amazon Review of Sprint 44
Today was a retrospective (retro) day at Industrial. This means we finished a sprint and looked back at it to discuss as a team what worked, what did…
Dec 03
Shared understanding with user story mapping
We’re drawn to stories. We like telling them. We like hearing them. Our parents tell them to us, and we tell them to our kids, and the stories bec…
Nov 16
CanUX 2015: from space travel to wiener dogs
This past weekend Mel Cowell (one of our designers) and I attended CanUX at the Museum of History in Gatineau. Ottawa's own Rob Wo…
Nov 09
Technology takeaways from CSAE 2015 in Calgary
A rollup of the technology discussions that we heard or took part in during CSAE's National Conference in Calgary this past October.
Nov 02
Colour choice and accessibility
Colour blindness is among one of the most common disabilities in the world. It's important to consider accessibility when choosing colours for your brand and website.
Oct 15
5 Technology Trends That Deserve Your Attention
Mobile technology, cloud file storage, micro services, open source software, and big data: 5 trends worth watching for 2016.
Oct 12
Debugging PHP with Xdebug
Steps to enable step-through debugging with PHP using the Xdebug extension
Oct 09
Creating a basic theme with October CMS
October CMS makes custom theming easy. In this article we outline the steps required to get your theme off the ground.
Oct 06
Standing on the shoulders of giants
A brief discussion of the history of the web, APIs and how it relates to the work we're doing with wicket.io.
Oct 01
Attending an Accessibility conference from the comfort of our own lounge
Industrial Quality Assurance Manager Ryan Knuth reflects on the 2015 Accessibility Summit, an online conference.
Sep 17
BDD testing in Drupal
How to get started writing tests for Drupal using the Behat framework.
Aug 13
Wicket.io: Re-thinking the traditional member data model
Free your data from the shackles of your current member data solution with wicket.io: a new approach to managing and engaging your members.
Aug 04
User behaviour. Or, why a UX expert can find your keys.
How observing user behaviour can help create great user experiences. And help you find things.
Jul 20
Intro to Agile at Industrial
Using agile methodologies in a service company is unique. While many companies talk about being "agile," here at Industrial we truly are. In this article we explain what a typical sprint looks like.
Jul 17
Style guides: your brand’s best friend
A style guide is whatever you need to document to keep you, your team, your contractors, on brand. And it's never too early to start thinking about building one.
Jul 07
Why you're smart to use Eventbrite to manage your organization's events
A look at the power of the Eventbrite platform for managing events whether your an association, not-for-profit, or corporation.
Jul 05
How do I talk to a client about budget overages?
In a transparent and Agile process, how do you address the question of budget with a client.
Jul 03
The Case for Test Cases in Web and Mobile Projects
Creating test cases early in the project lifecycle benefits the entire team and shouldn't be overlooked during project planning.
Jul 03
Elasticsearch and Drupal: Creating a powerful search engine for your website content
A look into how we integrate Drupal with Elasticsearch to enable powerful on-site searching.
Jul 01
Efficiently building a front-end design with Bourbon
When it comes to efficiently building out custom front-end designs, many frameworks fall short. Bourbon gives control back to the developer, while still providing tools to quickly get your site off the ground.
Jun 29
Ask not what you can do for your database, but what your database can do for you
We work with databases all the time. We're constantly stuffing large amount of data into them, ranging from page content to meta-data, numbers a…
Jun 24
Apple Watch and Notifications: Should your organization care about the latest wearable tech?
Thoughts on what the Apple Watch might mean to your organization, through the lens of notifications.
Jun 09
Getting started with Ionic
Using the Ionic application development framework to turn our responsive, accessible web tech into amazing mobile applications.
Jun 05
Why you’re right to hate your Association Management System software
Industrial's take on the current state of AMS software solutions, their impact on user experience, and thoughts on a better path forward.
May 25
Drupal 8 now
A tale of how the new Industrial website came to be under Drupal 8, the latest (still in beta) version of one of the most popular open source content management systems in the world.
May 22
Faceted search: Powerful filtering of website content
How to build and structure the best possible on-site search to allow users to quickly get to the information they need, without a long navigation path.
Apr 28
Saving energy with Hydro Ottawa's Small Business Lighting Program
Our tale of transforming our office lighting by taking advantage of a great (and free!) program from Hydro Ottawa.
Apr 13
Creating an accessible colour palette
This is a quick walkthrough of how I helped our designer develop an accessible colour palette to get things kicked off for the design of the new Industrial website.
Apr 10
Meet Oscar
Meet Oscar. He's our office dog, and if you visit the Industrial workshop on any given Thursday, you'll most likely be greeted by his insanely high-pitched, ear-piercing, yappy-barking-insanity.
Apr 01
15 lessons from 15 years at Industrial
On February 1st, 2015, this little company of ours turned 15 years old. My, how the time flies. To commemorate 15 years in the land of digital, here’s my top 15 lessons learned.
Mar 02
Industrial helps Ottawa Senators launch Salesforce-powered Fan Council community
In the latest project that Industrial has partnered with the Ottawa Senators on, we have developed an online fan feedback community called the Senators Fan Council.
Nov 11
Is your website accessible?
An accessible website is developed, and its content written, so that all users can access the content and use the functionality, no matter of disability, location, experience, or the device being used.
Dec 20
Welcome home
From an empty floor plate to a beautiful office space in the heart of Westboro: our journey through building a new home for Industrial.
Dec 02